Daily GK Updates - 1st June, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Ravi Shankar Prasad launches India’s National AI Portal www.ai.gov.in: The Union Minister for Electronics and IT, Law and Justice and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad launched India’s national Artificial Intelligence Portal called www.ai.gov.in, on 30 May 2020, to mark the the first anniversary of the second tenure of the government. The portal has been jointly developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and IT Industry. It will be jointly run by National e-Governance Division of Ministry of Electronics and IT and NASSCOM from the IT industry. The AI portal shall work as a one stop digital platform for all AI related developments in India like sharing of resources such as articles, startups, investment funds in AI, resources, companies and educational institutions related to AI in India, among other things. The minister also launched a National Program for the youth, “Responsible AI for Youth”, to give the young students of our country a platform and empower them with appropriate new age tech mind-set, relevant AI skill-sets and access to required AI tool-sets to make them digitally ready for the future..

2. Gujarat is the first state to complete the migration of workers to their home state through Shramik Special trains: Gujarat is the first state to complete the migration of workers to their home state through Shramik Special trains. According to sources, it is the only state which had run more than 1,000 shramik special trains for sending 15 lakh 18 thousand migrant workers to their home state. According to Additional Chief Secretary of State Labor and Employment department Vipul Mitra, this was the biggest planned migration by any state in Independent India. From more than 40 trains earlier this week, the last 7 Shramik Special Trains departed from different stations of Gujarat. Maximum 8 lakh 20 thousand workers migrated to Uttar Pradesh followed by 3 lakh 50 thousand workers to Bihar and 1 lakh 31 thousand workers to Odisha.

Note: Gujarat Capital: Gandhinagar; Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani; Governor: Acharya Devvrat

3. Meghalaya plans to provide tap connection to all rural households by December, 2022: Meghalaya on 1st June presented the Annual Action Plan to achieve 100% household tap connections to National Jal Jeevan Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti for approval. Meghalaya proposed 100% tap connections to all the households by December, 2022. Out of 5.89 lakh total rural households, the State is planning to provide 1.80 lakh tap connections in 2020-21. It was appreciatively noted that Meghalaya is planning to cover 1096 villages with 100% tap connection in 2020-21.

Note: Meghalaya Capital: Shillong; Governor: Tathagata Roy; Chief Minister: Conrad Sangma

4. Lt General Manoj Pande took charges as 15th CINCAN: Lt General Manoj Pande will take charges as the 15th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman & Nicobar Command (CINCAN) succeeding Podali Shankar Rajeshwar. Prior to this, he was Director General at Army Headquarters. During his 37 years of distinguished service, he has taken part in Operation Vijay and Parakram. He was honoured with Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) in 2020 and appointed as an Honorary Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the President of India in November 2019.

5. Ravinder Singh Dhillon appointed as CMD of PFC: State-run Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has appointed Ravinder Singh Dhillon as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the company.  He will succeed incumbent CMD Rajeev Sharma, who is attaining superannuation on May 31, 2020. Dhillon’s appointment will be with effect from 01 June 2020, till the date of his superannuation (May 31, 2023) or until further orders. He is presently serving as Director (Projects) in the PFC and has more than 35 years of experience in various areas of the power sector.

Note: PFC Headquarter: New Delhi

6. UP govt signs MoU with industry associations boosting employment: MSME department of state signed MOUs with Industries and Business Chambers for providing 9.5 lakhs skilled and semi-skilled manpower. It will boost MSME sector along with providing employment to the migrant workers. Under the MoU, Indian Industries Association has asked for 5 lakh workers, National real estate Development Council asked for 2.5 lakh and CII has asked for 2 lakh workers. The moto behind this: Har Hath Ho kam, Har Ghar Mein Rojgar with special software.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. UK to create 5G club of 10 democracies: British government has approached US with the prospect of creating ‘5G club of 10 democracies’, including India due to the growing security concerns related to Chinese telecom giant Huawei. The club will be named 'D10' and will include G7 countries: UK, US, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada along with Australia, South Korea, and India. It is framed to create alternative suppliers of 5G equipment and other technologies to avoid relying on China.

2. Global Day of Parents: 1st June: The United Nations has proclaimed to observe June 1 ever year as the Global Day of Parents to appreciate all parents in all parts of the world for their selfless commitment to children and their lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing this relationship. The theme for Global Day of Parents 2020 is “Appreciate all parents throughout the world”. The day was designated by the General Assembly in 2012 to honour all the parents throughout the world.

3. World Milk Day: 1st June: World Milk Day is observed on June 1 each year since 2001 to recognize the importance of milk as a global food and provide an opportunity to bring attention to activities that are connected with the dairy sector. The international day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. This year, the day was celebrated with a “Enjoy Dairy Rally” that commenced on 29th May 2020 and culminated with World Milk Day i.e. on 01st June 2020. The theme of 2020 is ’20th Anniversary of World Milk Day’ to mark the 20th anniversary of the day.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Virat Kohli only cricketer in Forbes’ 2020 list of world’s highest paid athletes: India skipper Virat Kohli is the only cricketer to feature in Forbes’ list of the top 100 highest paid athletes in the world for the year 2020. Kohli is ranked at number 66 with estimated earnings of $26 million. Swiss tennis great, Roger Federer has topped the list of world’s highest-paid athlete for 2020 with an estimated $106.3 million. Soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo ($105 million), Lionel Messi ($104 million) and Neymar ($95.5 million) and NBA’s LeBron James complete the top 5 positions in the list. The factors used by Forbes’ for calculation were athletes’ revenue, including prize money, salaries, contract bonuses, endorsements, royalties, and appearance fees from June 1, 2019, until June 1, 2020. The 2020 list included athletes from 21 countries and 10 sports.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Mohandas Pai to chair IBBI Advisory Committee on Service Providers: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has constituted its advisory committee on service providers under T V Mohandas Pai (Manipal Global Education Services chairman). The 12-member panel would advise and provide professional support on regulation and development of the service providers dealt with by the IBBI, according to an order. The service providers include insolvency professionals, insolvency professional’s agencies, insolvency professional entities and information utilities.

Note: IBBI is an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code implementation institution.

IBBI Headquarter: New Delhi

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Singapore top FDI source for India in FY20 with $14.67 bn in investments: Singapore was the top source of foreign direct investment into India for the second consecutive financial year, accounting for about 30 per cent of FDI inflows in 2019-20. According to the data of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), In the last financial year, India attracted $14.67 billion in FDI from Singapore, whereas it was $8.24 billion from Mauritius.  FDI in India rose by 13 per cent – the sharpest pace in the last four fiscals – to a record $49.97 billion in 2019-20.

OBITUARIES

1. Former Rajasthan BJP Chief Bhanwar Lal Sharma Passes Away: A veteran politician and former Rajasthan President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bhanwar Lal Sharma passed away in Jaipur. He was 95-years-old. Bhanwar Lal Sharma became a municipal council chairman in 1961 and an MLA for the first time in1977 from the Hawamahel constituency. In 1978, he became a minister in the state government for the first time and held portfolios such as higher education, housing and sports among others. He also held the post of a minister again in 1990. He was an MLA from 1980 to 1990 and became the BJP President for the state of Rajasthan for the first time in 1986. Bhanwar Lal Sharma was re-elected to the post for the second time in 1989 and for the third time in 2000.